What is Thinking (Cognition)? Edward De Bono says that thinking is... the deliberate exploration of experience for a purpose. The action of thinking is an exploration, so when one thinks one investigates, studies, examines or analyzes. The object explored is one s experience, that is, the collection of events that make up one s conscious life -- the entire content of one s conscious mind. Furthermore, this exploration of experience is deliberate which implies that the action is performed carefully and thoroughly. And finally the action is carried out for a purpose so there is some goal or aspiration to attain.
Thus thinking is a careful and thorough investigation of the collection of events that make up one s conscious life in order to achieve a specific objective.
Habits of Mind...the habits or dispositions of successful people. Personal Traits Persisting Managing impulsivity Striving for accuracy Finding humor Acquiring Information Gathering data through all senses Listening with understanding and empathy Questioning and posing problems Thinking interdependently Thinking Tools Thinking flexibly Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision Applying past knowledge to new situations Remaining open to continuous learning Personal Responses to Thought Creating, imagining, innovating Responding with wonderment and awe Thinking about thinking (metacognition) Taking responsible risks
First Order Abstraction Processing Ideas 1. Treating facts or ideas as independent entities accumulating facts, generating new ideas 2. Simple analysis of collections of facts or ideas classify, sequence analogy/metaphor, compare/contrast parts/whole reasoning 3. More complex analysis inference causal reasoning generalization, prediction analogical reasoning deduction conditional (if... then) categorical (some... all) 4. Complex cognitive tasks (systematic thinking) decision making problem solving assumptions, order of magnitude estimates planning modeling and simulation
Second Order Abstraction Evaluating Ideas Language 1. Assessing the reasonableness of ideas assessing the reliability of information accuracy of observation reliability of sources 2. Evaluating the utility of ideas 3. Testing conclusions with reality uncovering and evaluating assumptions hypothesis and testing identifying reasons and conclusions 4. Reformulating ideas based upon assessment (Thesis, Anti-thesis, Synthesis) 5. Evaluation of the human element consensus personal feelings
Language Third Order Thinking Metacognition 1. Being aware of the kind of thinking you are doing 2. Knowing the thinking strategy you are using. 3. Evaluating the effectiveness of your thinking. 4. Planning how you will do the same kind of thinking the next time it is needed.
Times to Remember Attention Rehearsal Refresh sight sound feel taste smell Sensory Memory (1-2 seconds) 90 % Working Memory ( 18 seconds without attention) Long Term Memory (permanent, more or less)
processing Think Pair Share Think of a event in your life where you demonstrated persistence and it led to a success. List the various skills, attitudes, feelings, strategies that you utilized in demonstrating your persistence. Discuss and compare your list with a partner. Create a composite list. Share with the group.
Each Habit of Mind, like the Habit of Persisting, has a set of skills and strategies. As skillful thinkers, we need to be aware of those subskills so we can support their ongoing development. When you come to think about your term paper for this class think about what is needed to persist Your goal, sub goals, Steps to be taken
Sorting computer worms AIDS friend random node classroom stock market transportation colleague airport hubs professor sports epidemic networks plagues student center movie actors urban myths room mate West Nile virus collaboration ancestor youth gangs spring break graph collaboration cults cluster dean residence hall wealth distribution Melissa computer virus politics ebola virus markets Systems social human agency gymnasium movies small world
Each Cognitive Skill, like Classify, has a plan of action sometimes called Mind Map, Thinking Map. As skillful thinkers, we need to be aware of this plan so each time we use the cognitive skill we know how to proceed and we can support its ongoing development. When you come to think about a topic for your term paper for this class think about how you will classify the various candidate topics before you select the best one.
What is Metacognition Metacognition refers to the conscious application of an individual s thinking to their own thought processes with the specific intention of those processes. understanding, monitoring, evaluating and regulating
Stop and think about what you are doing Thinking and Learning in Concert By thinking about our thinking we are able to: Select from a repertoire of strategies when we are faced with problems or new knowledge and experiences Monitor the successfulness of our selection and use of these strategies Modify and adapt our selection and use of strategies
When you think about your own thinking you are thinking about... Content Cognition Conduct
Listening with empathy and understanding Understand Others! Devoting mental energy to understand another person's thoughts and ideas: make an effort to perceive another s point of view and emotions.
Listening Sequence P P P Pause Paraphrase Probe
Pause Controls the pace of conversation Participants listening to each other Students asking questions Improves the quality of the discussion Contributions from all participants Lets listeners know: Paraphrase that you are listening, that you are trying to understand them, that you care about their thoughts.
Probe Probing increases the clarity and precision of thinking by refining understandings, terminology and interpretation Pushes the speakers to be more specific: e.g. it s really big and stuff Encourages higher order thinking: given what we have just seen happen, what are some of the things that might happen next if we?
Questioning and Posing Problems How Do You Know? Having a questioning attitude: knowing what data are needed and developing questioning strategies to produce those data. Finding problems to solve.
Pythagoras (circa 576 495 BC) a Greek philosopher, mathematician and mystic discovered that there was an underlying mathematical pattern to the sensations of music. He believed that the external world we perceive could be understood in terms of mathematical principles. What we perceive we can understand. He developed a method for approaching this understanding that involves five steps: observation, abstraction, understanding, description and verification. The detailed conception of the universe we have today is due in large measure to the first steps taken by this Pythagorean school of thought
Mathematical Modeling The real world The mathematical world A model of reality Understanding, structuring and simplifying the situation A real situation Validating the results Real results Making the problem amenable to mathematical treatment Interpreting the mathematical results A mathematical model Using relevant mathematical tools to solve the problem Mathematical results